Road Trip

Eclipse Bookstore - The greatest place on the planet!!

 1104 11th St
Bellingham, WA 98225

 

This place is AMAZING. And I found it by complete accident. I was driving around Bellingham a bit lost trying to find the bookstore 'Village books' when I drove by this place and it caught my eye. For starters I could tell it was a second hand bookstore and personally I love those kind more than the more commercial bookstores. Second hand bookstores are usually always owned and run by people who genuinely love and know their books well. The chap at the front desk was welcoming but quiet and kindly answered my first question "Err, how is this store organised?" I had a bit of a happy heart attack when I first entered, and I literally gaped when he said there was a downstairs. I got the feeling he wasn't the most organised person based on the fact there were huge stacks of books everywhere along the floor, but in a way I thought it was done on purpose and I liked it very much. Kinda like an Aladdins Cave of books. 

It was a pity I was starving and needing the bathroom after all the driving and border stuff I did just to get into the US, cos I didn't stay there as long as I would have liked. Heck, theyd do very good business if their upstairs was a bed and breakfast because I would have happily stayed the night lol just to spend hours or days in that store. 

Another thing I was impressed with was their American History section. It pretty much filled up most of one side of the downstairs section. I saw books that all looked really interesting (except for the typical George Bush and Clinton biographies hahaha). I saw a book that was a volume of the diaries of the Explorers Lewis and Clark that looked facinating. A lot of books on Washington history (can't say Ive ever explored the topic personally). But since Washington State is their home which Im sure their proud of their history, it must be very rich and interesting and might tie in quite a bit with British Colombian history maybe?

I would have liked to have bought more books, but in my rush to leave and find some food I bought one book that caught my curiosity the most:

After I sadly left Eclipse Bookstore, I drove around some more and finally found the Village Bookstore in the Historic village of Fairhaven. I found a carpark easily enough (and was free! woohoo!), and at the right time I looked down the road a bit and saw this:

 

A double decker bus! In the US of all places! But then again, only in the US would they take a bus and turn it into an outdoor dinner. So I walked up and the chalkboard out front said 'Alaskan Halibut Fish and Chips' It was as if they knew a hungry New Zealander was comming! I tell you what, those were the best damn deep fried halibut Ive had in my life. It tastes completely different to New Zealand fish but certainly not in a bad way and the filet was small (I guess halibut is a small fish?) but it tasted lovely and fresh. Their chips could do improving (definitely not up to the caliber of Lyttleton fish and chips) but they were pretty decent. And they served it with some very tasty homemade coleslaw and tartare sauce. I almost wish I had a pineapple ring or hot dog to go with it because I was really hungry! Lets just say I bet the the elderly couple nearby probably thought I was a glutton by the way I shoved it all in my mouth.

Here some more pictures of the surrounding buildings in Fairhaven.